# Port Hangover



## tazziedevil

Last night I thought I'd take a little break from the homebrew and open a nice bottle of port to sip while listening to the Seattle/St. Loius game. Damn fine stuff...sugary but not oversweet, full bodied but not overpowering.

The problem is when I woke up I had a _terrible_ hangover! From 2.5 glasses of port! Blechhh!

So I'm spending the morning drinking black coffee and hanging out on CS.

I could think of worse ways to spend a day off of work........


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## vic_c

DONT look at my thread titled "port ****"....it may make you sick...but my advice is to drink more port.....just not today.... and build up your port tolerance. *THAT PORT STUFF IS GREAT!* ... :al u :al


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## pnoon

vic_c said:


> ...but my advice is to drink more port.....just not today.... and build up your port tolerance. *THAT PORT STUFF IS GREAT!*


 :tpd: 
I am a port lover, too.

How big were your 2.5 glasses? Port is to be sipped; not to be drunk like table wine. Also, never EVER buy cheap port. That is a quick ticket to a hangover. And a port hangover is the worst. 
:2


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## tazziedevil

I drank them out of Red Wine glasses...average sized glasses, I suppose. Wasn't cheap port, wasn't expensive port. Can't remember the brand name...was a regional Australian brand(probably out of South Australia). At the time I was drinking, It was sooooo tasty. I like the idea of building up my port tolerance. I'll start tonight!


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## Nely

tazziedevil said:


> Last night I thought I'd take a little break from the homebrew and open a nice bottle of port to sip while listening to the Seattle/St. Loius game. Damn fine stuff...sugary but not oversweet, full bodied but not overpowering.
> 
> The problem is when I woke up I had a _terrible_ hangover! From 2.5 glasses of port! Blechhh!
> 
> So I'm spending the morning drinking black coffee and hanging out on CS.
> 
> I could think of worse ways to spend a day off of work........


You wussie!


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## vic_c

> I drank them out of Red Wine glasses


No wonder......the 2.5 glasses probably equaled 2/3 of the bottle!

:al :al :al :al


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## mosesbotbol

tazziedevil said:


> Can't remember the brand name...was a regional Australian brand(probably out of South Australia). At the time I was drinking, It was sooooo tasty. I like the idea of building up my port tolerance. I'll start tonight!


Aussie port is even sweeter than Portugesse stuff, so a hangover is going to be rough! I had an old roommate who use to drink Hardy's Whisker Port, a bottle would last two nights max... Can't go near the Whiskers any more.

Port is one of my favorite drinks, ask well as sherry and kirsch.


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## viesturs

Man, nothing worse then a port or wine hangover. Once over drank some French wine ,Kressmanns white. Hangover for two days and could taste the stuff for a week at least. u


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## mosesbotbol

viesturs said:


> Man, nothing worse then a port or wine hangover. Once over drank some French wine ,Kressmanns white. Hangover for two days and could taste the stuff for a week at least. u


One time in high school some buddies and I drank too much Wild Irish Rose and couldn't skateboard home from the mall; boy did I have a hangover.


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## Blueface

Go to a shop like Crate and Barrel and pick up some official port glasses.
Once you see them, you will immediately recognize port is not to be consumed like regular wine, in much larger regular wine glasses.

That said, I agree you have to build your tolerance.
Not uncommon for the wife and I to get together with two other friends and kill a bottle of port, after having killed three or four bottles of regular wine.
I have had just about all portuguese port and by far my favorite is a nice aged tawny. I have tried non Portuguese port but to me, nothing beats the Portuguese. 40 year tawny works great but not on the pocket (around $200). 30 years works very well also but around $100. For around $50, you are in 20 year tawny territory. If those are all too high (which they are for most of us), go for the 10 year for around $25. Whatever you do, don't go lower than that.

For your vintage stuff, you really have to know your port as it is important to know what year is ready to be opened. Won't try to explain that as it takes a long time to learn that. That is why I steer you towards tawny as it is ready anytime. Regular Ruby is also very good but buy the best you can.
Thank goodness for those folks in Port, Portugal for making this fine wine.


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## mosesbotbol

Blueface said:


> I have tried non Portuguese port but to me, nothing beats the Portuguese. 40 year tawny works great but not on the pocket (around $200). 30 years works very well also but around $100. For around $50, you are in 20 year tawny territory. If those are all too high (which they are for most of us), go for the 10 year for around $25. Whatever you do, don't go lower than that.
> 
> For your vintage stuff, you really have to know your port as it is important to know what year is ready to be opened. Won't try to explain that as it takes a long time to learn that. That is why I steer you towards tawny as it is ready anytime. Regular Ruby is also very good but buy the best you can.
> Thank goodness for those folks in Port, Portugal for making this fine wine.


I am not a fan of the 40 and 30 year Tawnys, I like the 20 and will do the 10 no problem. Taylor is the best, with Dow as a close 2nd. The 30 and 40 years seem to loose too much flavor and are overpriced at that (not that I would ever turn my nose to them, or about any port).

I love vintage port too much. You're right about knowing what brands for what years. You can print out a guide when you go a liquor store to base prices on. Even something that is rated in the 80's still tastes pretty dam yummy. If it's from Dow, Grahams, Fonseca, Taylor, Noval or Cockburn, it has to be pretty good. It comes down to whether you got a good buy or not. If it's a recent Vintage (90's), just leave the bottle open overnight, even stuff from the 80's like 1983 can be open over night. A bottle of port is good for two people, and two bottles is even better for two people!

The "preferred" port glasses are from Riedel and are about $12.00 each, money well spent and they work well with Scotch and Congac too.


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## Andyman

This weekend I picked up a Grahams LBV 96' although not a true vintage year I really liked this port. Much better than the Tawny I had earlier.. My wife however like the tawny better. I may try the fonseca 94 next time around. I can't justify spending mucho dinero on a Fonseca 77 but I would love to try a sip..


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## mosesbotbol

Andyman said:


> This weekend I picked up a Grahams LBV 96' although not a true vintage year I really liked this port. Much better than the Tawny I had earlier.. My wife however like the tawny better. I may try the fonseca 94 next time around. I can't justify spending mucho dinero on a Fonseca 77 but I would love to try a sip..


Try the 1983 Vintage, still affordable and great. 1977 Fonseca is good, and I really love the 1977 Dow!!!


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## Hunter

Last summer I went to Portland to visit a buddy and tour the breweries in the Old Port. It was a nice night, clear sky, 75 degrees, and we had his convertible. Well, he's a truck broker and long about 11:30 he gets a call from a driver who just came to town. We go to visit and upon arrival what do you suppose is waiting? You guessed it, two full boxes of the best Mexican table stock grapes to ever bless a vine. So, the boxes and I jump in the back seat and off we go. I eat, throughout the night, the better part of one box. Though slimmer than Homer Simpson I'm sure I resembled him, at least in thought process anyway... "Mmm Gritty's (microbrew)... Mmm Mehican graphos," with the resemblance deepening as the night drew on. We completed the tour and then went "visiting" until about 3:00. Feeling good I set my alarm for 5:30 and went to sleep. When the alarm rang, so did my head. The subsequent consequences were explosive, an understatement, and I won't violate your imagination with a description. I cursed the fine people of Mexico for growing the sweetest grapes and the damn brewery for its pale ale too. Even God took a stiff one on the chin for the inadequate human constitution. Well anyway, there's my "port" story... and I'm sticking to it!


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## mosesbotbol

Portugal is the best producer of port hands down, without hesitation. The US and Austrailia have tried, but can't come close. I had Port in Goa, India, which is a former Portugesse territory, and their port was horrible! Looked and tasted more like Slogin.


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## Blueface

mosesbotbol said:


> Try the 1983 Vintage, still affordable and great. 1977 Fonseca is good, and I really love the 1977 Dow!!!


'77 Dow definitely a must!


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## tazziedevil

Good advice. I had lots of port before, but I dunno. Maybe the weather, maybe the cigar....maybe just heavy duty port. 

on an aside, How is port made?


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## mosesbotbol

tazziedevil said:


> on an aside, How is port made?


It's wine fortified with brandy made from the same wine to raise the alcohol level to 19%-20% because of storage concerns with wine in the old days. I am sure someone else will post a more elloborate answer.


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## vic_c

Blueface said:


> '77 Dow definitely a must!


For GREAT not bank breaking bottles ($60-$90) The '83 Cockburn, and '83 Dow are both winners. The Dow bottles from both '70 and '77 are also very good and affordable compared to the 100 rated '77 Fonseca or expensive (but excellent) Taylor's. From the 1940's to 2005 Taylor and Fonseca have led the pack of top rated Port with Quinto Do Noval (except for the "nacional")Dow, Graham, Cockburn, and Warre coming in second tier. In the 20's and 30's other lesser know ports like Niepoort were top rated. But buy what you can afford....there are some great values in excellent '80's Port. 
:al :al :al :al


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## ATLHARP

The Vintages are nice, but I would go with the LBV's for usual consumption and save the Vintages for special occasions. A great LBV is Taylor-Fladgate's '99 LBV. It can had for around $20 a bottle and is smooth and fruity. I currently found some Taylor '97 LBV and it is a beautifully smooth experience. '96 and '99 are good years IMHO, and in retrospect I think they may look back those years and declare them. '99 in particular had some beautiful ports come out it and it's LBV's are among the best I have tasted so far. 

ATL


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## tazziedevil

mosesbotbol said:


> I am sure someone else will post a more elloborate answer.


Thanks for that...That'll tide me over until I can find a more complete answer.


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## mosesbotbol

vic_c said:


> For GREAT not bank breaking bottles ($60-$90) The '83 Cockburn, and '83 Dow are both winners. But buy what you can afford....there are some great values in excellent '80's Port.
> :al :al :al :al


83's are good everyday ports, for just $60.00 a bottle I think most could drink one or two a week without a problem. Save the 1970's for a special time. It's getting hard to find the 83's, since the Euro is so strong, the 83's are an excellent value.

If you're a tawny drinker, than the 20 is a good everyday, and the 10 for when you have a party or don't care...


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## Don Fernando

thread hijack - couple stupid port questions:

i bought a bottle of Cockburn tawny port (forget the year..it's a cheap bottle that I got at the local liquor store for less than $20)

it's the first port bottle i've owned....

the cork is different than most wine bottles..it reminds me of a wild turkey cork..

anyhow, i opened it the other day, and my wife and i had about half the bottle.

how long will it stay 'good'? 
should i refrigerate it after opening?

i usually try to drink a bottle of wine within a couple of days, but how about port?

thank you for any and all comments.


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## pnoon

celticgent said:


> thread hijack - couple stupid port questions:
> 
> i bought a bottle of Cockburn tawny port (forget the year..it's a cheap bottle that I got at the local liqor store for less than $20)
> 
> it's the first port bottle i've owned....
> 
> the cork is different than most wine bottles..it reminds me of a wild turkey cork..
> 
> anyhow, i opened it the other day, and my wife and i had about half the bottle.
> 
> how long will it stay 'good'?
> should i refrigerate it after opening?
> 
> i usually try to drink a bottle of wine within a couple of days, but how about port?
> 
> thank you for any and all comments.


It should be fine for a couple of weeks. Although I can't say that from experience because an open bottle of port never lasts more than a few days to a week in my house. 
:2


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## Don Fernando

thanks!

yeah, i told my wife that wine HAS to be drank within a couple days of opening, so i'll just 'assume' that port is the same way...


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## pnoon

celticgent said:


> thanks!
> 
> yeah, i told my wife that wine HAS to be drank within a couple days of opening, so i'll just 'assume' that port is the same way...


Don't tell your wife but it's not true. Because of the higher alcohol content, port will last quite a bit longer.


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## mosesbotbol

pnoon said:


> It should be fine for a couple of weeks. Although I can't say that from experience because an open bottle of port never lasts more than a few days to a week in my house.
> :2


That is funny. Port should last 2-3 weeks no problem, but like he said, it's unlikely to last more than a couple of days. If you know in advance you're going to be drinking a bottle's worth, leave it open for 12+ hours to open it up unless it's from the early 70's or older, then a few hours if fine. Tawny can use some breathing also, 5-10+ hours is OK.


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## vic_c

pnoon said:


> It should be fine for a couple of weeks. Although I can't say that from experience because an open bottle of port never lasts more than a few days to a week in my house.
> :2


*YEAH WHAT HE SAID*

I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN ABOUT PORT NOT "LASTING" :r :al


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## Don Fernando

pnoon said:


> Don't tell your wife but it's not true. Because of the higher alcohol content, port will last quite a bit longer.


that's what i imagined, due to the higher alcohol content...

just wanted to ask.

she might just buy it though, although she got wise to "The whiskey will go bad if i don't finish the bottle tonight"


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## pnoon

celticgent said:


> although she got wise to "The whiskey will go bad if i don't finish the bottle tonight"


 :r :r


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## miki

pnoon said:


> :tpd:
> I am a port lover, too.
> 
> How big were your 2.5 glasses? Port is to be sipped; not to be drunk like table wine. Also, never EVER buy cheap port. That is a quick ticket to a hangover. And a port hangover is the worst.
> :2


I am taking this advise seriously. I will not buy a cheap bottle.
Peter or vic, why is it that cheap ports and wine give you a headache?


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